ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM - Florida Atlantic University



ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM

SPRING 2015

JOU 4314-001

CRN 28746

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meets: Thursdays, 1:00-3:50 p.m.

Semester: S 15

Classroom: FL 409

Campus: Boca Raton

Credit hours: 3

Prerequisites: None

Instructor --

Neil Santaniello

E-mail: nsantane@fau.edu

Office: CU 207

Phone: 561-297-1564 (FAU office)

561-212-7446 (cellular, preferred)

561-297-2615 (fax)

Office hours: Thursdays, 10:00 a.m. to noon. and by

appointment

Required textbook:

The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, 2014 edition or no older than 2011, by the Associated Press (ISBN: 978-0465082995)

Other required readings:

Provided by the instructor (posted on Blackboard or distributed as handouts)

Course web site:



(contains syllabus, certain assigned readings and grade chart)

NOTE -- Some reporting assignments require travel. The class occasionally meets off campus so students can interview environmental scientists, natural area managers and other experts, and examine wildlife habitats and ecological impacts firsthand. Access to a car is required.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Course Description/Learning Objectives:

In this course, students train their reporting and writing skills on the topics of biology, botany, geology, climatology, human health and other scientific disciplines related to the environment. At times, the focus will also shift to environmental policy, politics and law. The main goal is to teach journalism students how to write thoughtful, detailed and nuanced stories about environmental problems, conflicts, research and issues: stories that are informative, engaging and technically accurate. A high premium is placed on the latter in the world of science journalism, which environmental reporting inhabits. Students will also learn about reporting challenges faced by those who cover the environment and, in general, science. Assigned writings will focus on local and regional environmental topics, including those with national ramifications. Students will be required to venture beyond campus at times to do field reporting for this class, and to interview experts invited to class. For other assignments students will have to identify and interview story sources entirely on their own.

Setting/Context:

South Florida is a particularly rich setting for the practice of environmental reporting, with a diversity of natural areas ranging from low-lying and wet – the sheet-flowing Everglade for instance – to patches of sandy, desert-like coastal scrub. The flat, near sea level landscape is raked by periodic hurricane winds and surrounded on three sides by estuarine and marine waters. For decades, development fanned out and consumed natural areas, aided by a super-efficient manmade drainage system and the postcard perfect allure of year-round sunshine and warmth. Much ecological damage has been done. Half the Everglades’ original four million acres was whittled away by suburban sprawl and farming, with the remainder surviving on a life support system of canals, gates and pumps controlled from computer keyboards in West Palm Beach. Seventy different species of plant and animals are deemed endangered by federal wildlife officials, among those the Florida panther, manatee, leatherback sea turtle and wood stork. Growth has slowed amid the recession, but a swollen population continues to slurp over-taxed ground water, farm fields bleed phosphorus pollution into the Everglades and city wastewater pipes spew treated sewage into Atlantic coastal waters. Despite decades of impacts, and a pileup of development on and beyond the coastal ridge, South Florida still contains large swaths of natural area, and a sizable array of wildlife habitat from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay. Water managers, scientists and engineers press on with work to restore portions of the Everglades and recover some of what was lost, but their efforts are overshadowed by the region’s acute vulnerability to climate change and the threat of rising seas and warming ocean temperatures.

Grades/Written Assignments/Deadlines

Students receive six grades in this course: Stories one through four each generate 20 percent of the grade (80 percent total), while the exam and attendance record each account for 10 percent.

The assignment/exam schedule:

1) Story 1 (reporting trip, natural area hike or visit): 500-600 words, instructor arranged topic and main interview, minimum two interviewed sources and two document sources, due Feb. 5.

2) Story 2 (reporting trip, environmental issue or conflict): 600-800 words, instructor-arranged topic and main interview, minimum three interviewed sources and two document sources, due Feb. 26.

3) Story 3 (reporting in the field or on campus): 800-1,000 words, instructor-arranged topic, minimum three interviewed sources and three document sources, due March 26.

4) Story 4 (deadline writing, in class): 400-500 words, summary of an environmental study or science report, written on deadline in class, scheduled April 16.

5) Final exam: Typically multiple-choice and true-false, covers instructor-led lectures/class discussions on environment beat issues and certain assigned readings, stories and exercises; may also include a short writing component; scheduled April 23.

Story Format:

All stories must follow news writing style, obey the basic rules of English grammar and show evidence of careful proofreading or risk being rejected or downgraded.

All stories must be written in third person unless an exception is granted by the instructor.

All stories must be delivered electronically – via e-mail – as an attached Microsoft Word document. Stories also should be copied into the body of the same e-mail (via the copy-and-paste) function.

The reporter’s name and assignment number (Story 1, Story 2 etc.) must be typed as the top.

Paragraphs must be double-spaced and written to the minimum word count, though stories can exceed that by up to 200 words if warranted.

All stories are due by the start of the due-date class, the deadline for each assignment.

Source Requirements:

1) The name, professional title and phone number or email address of any source NOT PROVIDED by the professor—and the Web addresses for any web pages or documents cited and not provided by the professor -- must be listed at the end of the story.

2) All stories must include the MINIMUM NUMBER OF REQUIRED SOURCES, inclusive those provided by the instructor for a particular assignment. Examples of pertinent sources for in-person or phone interviews are scientists, government officials, environmental advocates or other experts relevant to the topic being examined, or applicable Web documents (for instance, a report, database, scientific study, research findings, environmental law text, press releases and other written records).

3) Email interviews are to be used only as a last resort and must be identified as an email exchange in the story text.

Stories that do not follow the above format will risk being rejected and returned to the student. Stories submitted after deadline on the due date receive a late-grade mark down – a half to full letter grade -- and could be rejected entirely if delivered two or more days after that. The instructor will not accept recycled content: papers written for other journalism classes or already-published stories.

GRADING RUBRIC (for assigned stories)

A range: Publishable or close-to-publishable quality. Cleanly and clearly written. Well reported, adequate sourcing, few to no typos or misspellings, appropriate grammar, punctuation and spelling, logical story flow, no major reporting holes. Follows news-writing format, includes sufficient attribution.

B range: Needs work but promising. Publishable with moderate editing and rewriting required. Might be somewhat underreported and contain limited (though not numerous) news style and language errors. Follows news writing format fairly well.

C range: Borderline publishable. Roughly written. This could include weak construction, confusing wording, and sizable reporting holes. Needs heavy editing to shepherd into print.

D range: Predominantly hard to follow: unclear writing and garbled story flows. Possibly containing several instances of grammar, punctuation or spelling mistakes and/or significant factual errors. Little to no evidence of proofreading.

F: Not worth an edit. Irreparably written or submitted past deadline; possible major factual errors; possible plagiarized material or fabricated content (facts and quotes).

Computer Lab Policy:

Once class starts, computers in the lab are to be turned off, or their screens darkened, unless the terminal is needed for a class exercise or research. This is a basic teaching courtesy. That means no surfing the Web for material unconnected to the course or e-mail browsing during lectures, class discussions or exercises. The university policy on personal communication devices states: “In order to enhance and maintain a productive atmosphere for education, personal communication devices, such as cellular telephones and pagers, are to be disabled in class sessions.”

Absences:

All absences are unexcused with the following exceptions:

-- Illnesses and medical emergencies involving students or their immediate family and close relatives, if appropriate documentation or notice is provided.

-- Participation in university-approved activities, including athletic or scholastics teams, musical and theatrical performances, and debate activities, if appropriate documentation or notice is provided.

-- Religious observances.

Any missed tests, in-class assignments or homework must still be completed and submitted for grading or risk a zero.

Academic Integrity:

Students at Florida Atlantic University are expected to maintain the highest ethical standards. Dishonesty is considered a serious breach of these ethical standards, because it interferes with the University mission to provide a high quality education in which no student enjoys an unfair advantage over any other. Dishonesty is also destructive of the University community, which is grounded in a system of mutual trust and places high value on personal integrity and individual responsibility. Please see the linked page for more information:



Plagiarism/Fabrication:

Copying another author’s written work word-for-word or close to it, and passing that off as your own without proper attribution or credit, is plagiarism, a serious breach of journalism ethics. This prohibited practice can lead to an F for the assignment or the entire course. Fabrication (inventing sources, using made-up quotes or phony factual information) is equally egregious and brings the same consequences.

Students with Disabilities:

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), students who require special accommodations due to a disability to properly execute coursework must register with the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) located in Boca Raton - SU 133 (561-297-3880), in Davie - MOD I (954-236-1222), in Jupiter - SR 117 (561-799-8585), or at the Treasure Coast - CO 128 (772-873-3305), and follow all OSD procedures.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

COURSE AND ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE

(Subject to change)

CLASS 1/Jan. 8: Course overview. Defining the environment and relevant issues. Environmental journalism’s challenges. South Florida’s environmental context – geology and hydrology, the weather and climate, plant and animal inhabitants, development impacts, etc. Examples of recent investigative environmental reporting around the nation. Story dissection.

HOMEWORK: Identify one local (Florida specific) environmental topic of interest to you, research the issue and bring to class the URL (web address) of one news story related to this issue. Be prepared to brief the class on what you've learned.

CLASS 2/Jan. 15: Film: Waters of Destiny. Discussion: Past governmental mindset toward the environment and today’s perspective. The control of nature. Homework discussion. What the environment/science writer brings to story-telling: simplified translations of science and technology, close attention to technical accuracy, explanatory prowess, emphasis on both the unknown and known, attention to scientific method and peer review, elucidation of risk and the potential health impacts to people and wildlife. Federal Register primer. Reporting trip directions.

HOMEWORK: Visit the Federal Register (). Find two announcements pertaining to government rulings/decisions/polices that affect some aspect of the environment (such as wildlife or natural resources), type a thick one-paragraph summary of each explaining the item in lucid language, and bring to class.

CLASS 3/Jan. 22: Story 1 reporting trip: Lake Worth Lagoon/Grassy Flats.

HOMEWORK: Bring Story 1 interview notes to next class; do additional reporting online.

CLASS 4/Jan. 29: Story dissection. Story 1 notes review and discussion. Federal Register: student findings. Review of basic elements of news writing (story structure, journalism rules and style). Story requirements and organizational tips. Types of environmental sources in South Florida. Using Google Alerts to track environmental topics.

HOMEWORK: Write Story 1.

*CLASS 5/Feb. 5: Story 2 reporting trip: West Delray Beach, wood stork feeding area. Story 1 due.

HOMEWORK: Research climate change and its potential impact in South Florida and be prepared to discuss the ramifications of rising temperatures and sea level on the region for Class 6.

CLASS 6/Feb. 12: Environmental movement history (abbreviated). Detailed environmental history timeline: . Covering climate change -- how to localize a global story. Example climate change impact / prediction stories. Introduction to Society of Environmental Journalists website. Additional reporting for Story 2.

HOMEWORK: Bring Story 2 notes to next class; examine the Columbia Journalism Review's recent John B. Oakes Award winner (for environmental reporting) at: ; be prepared to discuss for Class 7.

CLASS 7/Feb. 19: Story 2 notes review and discussion. The scientist-to-journalist communication divide. Government and non-government protectors of the environment: regulators and advocates. Guest speaker from a South Florida environmental advocacy group.

HOMEWORK: Write story 2; devise a list of three environmental story ideas pertaining to FAU and its grounds/facilities and write a one paragraph pitch for each.

*CLASS 8/Feb. 26: Story 3 reporting trip: Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University. Story 2 due.

HOMEWORK: Read "Troubling Trends for Environmental Journalism" (); read “About a Dozen Environment Reporters Left at Top 5 U.S. Newspapers" (), be prepared to discuss at the next class.

March 2 – 8: SPRING BREAK, NO CLASS

CLASS 9/March 12: Possible class cancellation, instructor scheduled to travel to College Media Association spring convention in New York City. Make-up assignment or alternative class meeting time and date, to be determined.

Homework: Make-up assignment.

CLASS 10/March 19: Story 3 notes review and discussion. Public records reporting and paper trails: “a documents mindset.” Florida public records fundamentals and introduction to the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). How to create a public records request. Politicized science – suppressing and altering scientific findings to achieve ideological objectives.

HOMEWORK: Read "Whither, Environmental Journalism" (); be prepared to discuss for Class 11.

*CLASS 11/March 26: How to extract news from a science study/report. Exercise: Wading bird trends in the Everglades or a science journal article, topic to be determined. Greens with press passes? The environmental journalist – advocate or observer? Justifications for both. Reporting on toxic chemicals: Silent Spring and chemicals in the news. Example articles -- both short and long form.

HOMEWORK: Read "Environmental Journalism? Environmentalism? An Identity Crisis at the SEJ Conference" (); be prepared to discuss for Class 12.

*CLASS 12/April 2: Story 3 due. Discuss extra-credit/homework assignment. Chain reactions in nature. Film: the“Predators” segment of the PBS video Strange Days on Planet Earth. Taking environmental advocacy to the extreme: Radical views on the environment beat. From the direct action model to domestic terrorism.

HOMEWORK: Read Media Matters report on Wall Street Journal editorials (), be prepared to discuss for Class 13.

CLASS 13/April 9: Rewrite deadline. Science study story practice. Spin and the environment. Film: Toxic Sludge is Good for You. Possible guest speaker: local environment beat reporter.

*CLASS 14/April 16: Story 4 scheduled. Deadline writing: Class will read and dissect a short environmental study published in science journal and write a story off the report that presents the news, any conclusion or recommendation, and summarizes key findings and their importance. The study will be provided by the instructor at the start of class. The story is due at the end of class.

HOMEWORK: Prepare for exam.

LAST DAY OF CLASSES: APRIL 20

READING DAYS: APRIL 21-22

*FINAL EXAM/April 23: Environmental Journalism final exam. Location: FL 409. Time: 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download